The present invention relates generally to the vehicle towing and cargo transportation field, and more particularly, to a receiver assembly that attaches to a vehicles step-bumper, drop-center bumper, or other structurally sound mounting surface and provides at least an elongated horizontal box receiver and at least one cargo anchor point.
Existing cargo carriers, cargo carrier accessories, and other tow-hitch receiver accessories tend to provide adapters to add cargo carrying capabilities or other useful attachments to a vehicles frame mounted tow-hitch receiver, but typically disregard cargo stability and sometimes decrease stability of the added cargo or towed load by moving the tow-shank and/or tow-ball further away from the vehicle or by integrating the cargo carrier or cargo carrier accessory with the tow-hitch receiver accessory. Examples of such are disclosed in a number of patents, including, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,874,804 to Reese et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 7,703,825 to Brown. Some cargo carriers require complete removal of any other tow-hitch receiver accessory which prevents towing trailers or equipment while using the tow-hitch receiver mounted cargo carrier. Examples of such are disclosed in a number of patents, including, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,195,262 to Chaudoin et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,458,389 to Young. Many vehicles have a step bumper, with an example disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,266,817 to Mason et. al., drop-center bumper, or other structurally sound mounting surface such as a steel flatbed, for example, which provides an opportunity for a novel receiver assembly to be designed that uses the availability of the aforementioned surfaces to mount a receiver assembly with cargo anchor points. While there are some previous tow-hitch receivers designed to be attached to a step-hitch bumper, drop-center bumper, or other types of bumpers and structurally sound mounting surfaces, with examples disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. D372,892 to McCoy et. al., U.S. Pat. No. D463,346 to Pancheri et. al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,702,118 to Hanson et. al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,662,647 to Larry J. Calvert, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,280,713 to Larry C. Bruhn: (a) previous designs are typically designed to be installed beneath a bumper as an alternative to a frame mounted tow-hitch receiver, (b) a bumper mounted tow-hitch receiver that is mounted beneath a bumper and a frame mounted tow-hitch receiver would generally interfere with each other due to their designs and typically cannot be used simultaneously, and (c) the anchor points on previous designs, if present, are typically designed to attach trailer safety chains for a towed trailer and not as cargo anchor points.
A need is therefore identified for a structural arrangement whereby cargo carriers, cargo carrier accessories, and other tow-hitch receiver accessories can be removed from the vehicles frame mounted tow-hitch receiver and moved onto a receiver(s) supported by the vehicles step-bumper, drop-center bumper, or other structurally sound mounting surface, as well as the need to provide an anchor point(s) to secure cargo, cargo carriers, cargo carrier accessories, and other tow-hitch receiver accessories. The present invention addresses several issues related to decreased towing capability and/or decreased cargo stability due to the use of cargo carriers, cargo carrier accessories, and other tow-hitch receiver accessories: (a) an additional receiver or receivers allow cargo carriers, cargo carrier accessories, and other tow-hitch receiver accessories to be removed from the vehicles frame mounted tow-hitch receiver and moved onto a receiver(s) supported by the vehicles step-bumper, drop-center bumper, or other structurally sound mounting surface, which reduces stress on the vehicles frame mounted tow-hitch receiver and reduces the instability otherwise created by the added distance between the vehicle and towed load, (b) anchor points provided by the current invention allow cargo, cargo carriers, cargo carrier accessories, and other tow-hitch receiver accessories to be secured to the vehicle using fasteners and/or tie downs such as turnbuckles, quick links, chains, ropes, cables, or straps, for example, in order to increase stability and reduce movement of cargo, cargo carriers, cargo carrier accessories, or other tow-hitch receiver accessories, (c) cargo carriers, cargo carrier accessories, or other tow-hitch receiver accessories that require removal of any other tow-hitch receiver accessory in order to be used can be moved onto the receiver assembly of the present invention, therefore leaving the vehicles frame mounted tow-hitch receiver available for a tow-shank, cargo carrier, cargo carrier accessory, or other tow-hitch receiver accessory. The present invention may be designed for towing, depending on the strength of material used in construction and method of construction, which would leave the vehicles frame mounted tow-hitch receiver available for other accessories. A number of cargo carriers, cargo carrier accessories, and other tow-hitch receiver accessories may benefit from the availability of at least an added elongated horizontal box receiver and cargo anchor point(s) as provided by the present invention. Examples of such are disclosed in a number of patents, including, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,560,666 to Vieira et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 8,141,760 to Kuschmeader et al.